THE ART NEWSPAPER

Downgraded or Questionable

"Still life with flowers"
(H1103) oil on canvas, signed.
Owner: Netherlands Ministry of Culture (on permanent loan to Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo). Acquired: Lent in 1974. Formerly in the collection of A. Philips-de Jongh, Eindhoven. Earliest provenance: L. Enthoven, Voorberg, Netherlands, 1910s. Problem: Style. Current status: Not on display. Curator Johannes van der Wolk says attribution is "questionable".

"Vase with Poppies"
(H1104), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut. Acquired: Bequeathed in 1957 by Anne Titzell, Connecticut. Earliest provenance: Amboise Vollard Gallery, Paris, 1901. Problem: Style and handling of paint. Current status: Not on display. Director Peter Sutton admits that some outside scholars have serious doubts about the attribution. "The jury is out," he explained. The still life is still formally attributed to Van Gogh, although its status will be reexamined when Curator Eric Zafran prepares his forthcoming catalogue on the Wadsworth's French pictures.

"Still life with basket"
(H1117), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo. Acquired: Bought by Hélène Kröller-Müller in 1912. Later presented to her museum. Earliest provenance. Amédée Schuffenecker, Meudon, before 1912. Problem: Style. Current status: Not on display. Van der Wolk says attribution is "questionable".

"Still life with bottle of wine"
(H1121), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam (on permanent loan to museum). Acquired: Given in 1962 by Van Gogh family to Foundation. Earliest provenance: Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Problem: Style and composition. X-ray has recently revealed it is painted above the portrait of a woman, not in Van Gogh's style. Current status: Not on display. Not by Van Gogh, but possibly by one of his artist friends.

"Jug with carnations"
(H1126), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo. Acquired: bought in 1920 by Hélène Kröller-Müller at Enthoven sale. Later presented to her museum. Earliest provenance: L. Enthoven, Voorberg, Netherlands, cc 1910s. Problem: Style. Current status: Not on display. Curator Van der Wolk says attribution is "questionable".

"Still life with carnations"
(H1129), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Detroit Institute of Arts. Acquired: Bequeathed in 1990 by Catherine Kresge Dewey. Earliest provenance: Mrs H. Ullmann, Frankfurt by 1930s. Problem: Style and flaccid brushwork. Current status: Not on display. Never formally accessioned into the collection. Curator George Keyes says that although the painting is clearly old, he does not believe that it is by Van Gogh.

"Vase with carnations"
(H1133), oil on canvas, signed.
Owner: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo. Acquired: Bought in 1913 by Hélène Kröller-Müller. Later presented to her museum. Earliest provenance: Eugène Blot Gallery, Paris by 1913. Problem: Style. Current status: Not on display. Van der Wolk says attribution is "questionable".

"Seated female nude"
(H1163), drawing, unsigned.
Owner: Van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam (on permanent loan to museum). Acquired: Given in 1962 by Van Gogh family to Foundation. Earliest provenance: Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Problem: weak execution. Current status: Not by Van Gogh, but possibly by one of his artist friends.

"Hill of Montmartre with quarry"
(H1180), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam (on permanent loan to museum). Acquired: Given in 1962 by Van Gogh family to Foundation. Earliest provenance: Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Problem: Style. Current status: Not by Van Gogh, but possibly by one of his artist friends.

"View in Paris"
(H1187), watercolour, unsigned.
Owner: Van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam (on permanent loan to museum). Acquired: Given in 1962 by Van Gogh family to Foundation. Earliest provenance: Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Problem: Watercolour technique lacks firmness of control. Current status: Not by Van Gogh, but possibly by one of his artist friends.

"Plate with rolls"
(H1232), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam (on permanent loan to museum). Acquired: Given in 1962 by Van Gogh family to Foundation. Earliest provenance: Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Problem: Brushstrokes not in Van Gogh's style. Current status: Not on display. Not by Van Gogh, but possibly by one of his artist friends (perhaps the painter responsible for "Still life with bottle of wine").

"Self-portrait"
(H1344), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna. Acquired: Bought in 1964 by the Kunsthist-orisches Museum and transferred to the Osterreichische Galerie in 1986. Earliest provenance: Family von Steiger, Zurich, early 1900s. Problem: Weak execution and facial expression. Current status: Not exhibited. Curator Dr Stephan Koja believes it is a fake.

"Wheatfield"
(H1482), oil on paper, unsigned.
Owner: Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. Acquired: Given in 1914 by Friends Association of the Nationalmuseum, after acquired by them in 1912. Records suggest that the price was "sensationally low". Earliest provenance: Paul Rosenberg Gallery, Paris, by 1912. Problem: The work is on paper, a support never used by Van Gogh. Appears to be a crude copy, probably based on an authentic picture at the Toledo Museum of Art. Some critics believe it may have been painted by Amédée or Emile Schuffenecker. Current status: Not on display. Formally still attributed to Van Gogh, although not personally accepted by Chief Curator Görel Cavalli-Björkman.

"Mountainous landscape near St-Rémy"
(H1745), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo. Acquired: Bought in 1912 by Hélène Kröller-Müller from Monsieur Leonard, Paris. Later presented to her museum. Earliest provenance: Amédée Schuffenecker, Clamart, before 1912. Problem: Style. Current status: Not on display. Van der Wolk says attribution is "questionable".

"Self-portrait"
(H1780), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo. Acquired: Bought in 1910 from Eugene Blot Gallery, Paris. Earliest provenance: Ambroise Vollard Gallery, Paris, in c1900 (possibly before that Monsieur Clouet). Problem: Weak execution and facial expression. Current status: Painting is still displayed as a Van Gogh, but Senior Curator Ernst Haverkamp admits there have been "recent doubts" about the picture. "More work is necessary before we can give a definitive answer," he says.

"Three trees and houses"
(H2000), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo. Acquired: Bought in 1913 by Hélène Kröller-Müller at Manzi-Joyant sale, Paris. Later presented to her museum. Earliest provenance: Marczell von Nemes, Budapest, before 1913. Problem: Style. Current status: Not on display. Van der Wolk says attribution is "questionable".

"Landscape with houses"
(H2078), drawing, unsigned.
Owner: Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Acquired: Bequeathed in 1975 by Ruth Lilienthal, Burlingame, California. Earliest provenance: Comtesse de Cumont, Avignon. Problem: Style. Current status: Outside experts have differing opinions. Curator Robert Johnson has some personal doubts about its authenticity. The drawing is not exhibited, but it has not been formally downgraded. Its status is unresolved.

"Landscape near Auvers-sur Oise"
(H2122), oil on canvas, unsigned.
Owner: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. Acquired: Donated in 1935. Earliest provenance: Ambroise Vollard Gallery, Paris, c1900. Problem: Paint handling and colour not typical of Van Gogh. Possibly based on an authentic painting in a Swiss collection. Some outside specialists suggest that the painting may have been executed by Amédée or Emile Schuffenecker. Current status: Not exhibited, and rejected as a Van Gogh. Curator Maureen O'Brien believes it is a pastiche.

M.B.

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